


the long way home

by marchioness_king



Category: DCU (Comics)
Genre: Airports, Angst, Gen, Running Away
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:00:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,371
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25985524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marchioness_king/pseuds/marchioness_king
Summary: Cass bought a ticket a week in advance, and haggled with the airline to let Apollo sit with her, and told Mom and Tim that she'd be gone, but she still felt like she was forgetting something.
Relationships: Cassandra Cain & Bruce Wayne, Cassandra Cain & Original Dog Character(s), Cassandra Cain & Tim Drake, Stephanie Brown & Cassandra Cain
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7
Collections: The GUG Cinematic Universe





	the long way home

**Author's Note:**

> Warning for mentions of Covid-19. It's not a major story beat, but it's the reason Cass left Hong Kong to be in Gotham for the purposes of the GUGverse, and is mentioned once by an unnamed individual in casual conversation.
> 
> Find Cass' GUG blog at cass-c-wayne.tumblr.com!

**part one: i needed you but you needed anyone**

There weren’t many people in the breakfast line when Cass passed the dining room, her phone in one hand and Apollo’s leash in the other. The receptionist was pleasant enough when he took her room card and started checking her out.

She’d given Apollo his breakfast in the room, using the last of the food she’d packed for him. She’d buy more at a store in Hong Kong. Still, he whined, pulling towards the buffet. She held him in place but looked over, all the same.

There was a child carrying a plate—a hotel waffle topped with chocolate chips, and several sausage patties—the latter of which was probably what Apollo wanted. “I’ll buy you sausage in Hong Kong,” she promised.

“You’re going to Hong Kong?” the receptionist asked. She nodded, and he added, “Any particular reason?”

“I live there,” she told him, and she saw his surprise.

“Oh, wow,” he said. “Shame you were stuck here, with all the corona stuff, then.” He looked down at the computer and then back at her. “We’re good here. Hope you have a nice flight!”

“Thank you,” she replied, and then walked to the doors. She saw the taxi she ordered waiting through the glass.

Apollo whined again, and she glanced over her shoulder. The waffle child was sitting at a table with their family, chattering happily, their gestures big and open. Their hair was blond and wavy, and for a moment Cass felt like she was Batgirl again, meeting Stephanie at Denny’s after patrol.

“We need to go,” she told Apollo, pulling on the leash. He came along with her, maybe a little reluctantly, but by the time they were in the car, he was happy again, looking out the windows.

She wished she could forget that easily.

**part two: goodbye, goodbye, eastern standard time**

Cass didn’t think many people knew what Apollo looked like, which was good. People looked at her funny because she had a big dog but not because it was Apollo and she was Cassandra Wayne. She wondered if the paparazzi even knew what she looked like. Most of them remembered Dad had a daughter but one time they got a picture of him with Stephanie and called her Cassandra, even though she was blond.

People gave her a wide berth, though, which she was okay with. She found a seat at her gate and told Apollo, “Sit,” and gave him scritches because he was a very good dog. There were people milling around but no one nearby, and no one that looked suspicious. That was always nice, when no one wanted to fight Cass. She really wanted one flight without an assassin on it. Usually the assassins weren’t even for her, but it was the principle of the matter. Also, assassins would draw attention. She did not want attention right now. Not the kind where Dad or someone would have to come and deal with the assassins and then turn to her and ask why she was at an airport in Fawcett City, of all places.

Although maybe Tim would come, she thought. He wouldn’t ask questions because he already knew. He’d probably still be upset, though.

She took out her phone and Tumblr and typed a quick post. Something about how many museums there were in Fawcett. Something to explain if she didn’t get online. The plane had wifi but she didn’t know if she wanted to be online. She didn’t want attention, she reminded herself. She didn’t want them to notice she was leaving. She _didn’t_.

Apollo huffed, and she scratched behind his ears. He rested his head on her lap, and it was a good weight. Almost as good as her blanket. She wished she’d brought it, but that might’ve tipped someone off, if they looked in her room. She doubted anyone would look in her room. She tried not to be upset about this. She didn’t _want_ anyone to notice she was gone.

...she did want her blanket though.

Maybe she’d ask Tim to send it, once she was sure no one had noticed she was gone. He wouldn’t be upset forever; he didn’t need her. Eventually, he’d probably forget she was ever there at all.

**part three: it could stay this simple**

Cass was wearing a plain gray mask; nothing eye-catching, nothing indicative of her identity. The plane wasn’t very full, but she _had_ disclosed her name so Apollo could sit next to her. It would be on the official transcripts, but so was her passport, so there wasn’t much use in hiding it.

No one would be searching anyways.

She had her headphones and a playlist full of songs. Most of them, someone suggested for her. Tim or Dick or Steph, once upon a time: good memories to carry her.

She hadn’t added many new songs, lately.

She pressed shuffle and leaned against the window, watching the concrete tarmac pass by, as the plane rumbled around her. It was familiar, and she frowned. “ _Your little hand’s wrapped around my finger_ ,” a woman crooned, and she frowned, suddenly in the Manor ballroom under the glittering chandelier, on polished floors, sliding in her socks while Tim offered her a worried smile.

 _I am dancing now_ , she’d typed, _come with?_ And he’d come. She’d never asked if he picked something slow on purpose, but it had rid her of jitters all the same.

By the time the song finished, the plane was rising and she was trying to pop her ears, smoothing Apollo's fur down, and she hit the back button, and the woman started crooning again.

“ _You got nothing to regret_ ,” she sang, and Cass hummed along.

**part four: will everybody please give [her] a little bit of space?**

The lights turned on when Cass hit the switch, and she looked at the apartment. The blinds were drawn, the bathroom door was open, a pile of mail was still on the counter; it all seemed the same as when she left, packing haphazardly, phone between her ear and her shoulder while Dad said “ _I just want to know you’re safe_ -”

There was an odd smell in the air. She shut the door and locked it and let go of Apollo’s collar, and he paced into the room, whining softly. She left the grocery bags on the floor and went to the fridge, which was empty, and the freezer, and she sighed when she saw that she’d forgotten to empty the latter.

“Good boy,” she said, when Apollo walked by her, and crouched to open the cabinet under the sink. There were only a few garbage bags left, but she pulled one out and started clearing the freezer out. There were bags of vegetables that she frowned at (keep the broccoli, toss the peas) and a bag of popsicles she didn’t touch, but the real loss was the ice cream, which she dumped regretfully: two-thirds a tub of neapolitan, and her last pint of chocolate.

She’d have to get more, whenever she went shopping again.

When she turned around, Apollo had settled on the mattress. She’d stripped the sheets but never cleaned them, before her flight to Gotham, and she didn’t feel like putting them on just to take them off in the morning. She was wearing leggings and a t-shirt, so she just unclipped her bra and wiggled out of it, throwing it onto the couch before collapsing next to him.

“Good boy,” she repeated, scratching his neck, the mattress shifting when he wagged his tail. “Best boy. I love you. I love you.”

Apollo couldn’t speak, but she imagined he’d say “I love you too” if he could. She thought she’d actually believe him, if he still looked at her like she was the sun.

~~The way she looked at Dad.~~

“You’re a good boy,” she insisted, letting her arm fall. She rolled onto her back, her left leg falling onto the ground. The lights were still on, but she didn’t want to get up, so she stared up at the ceiling. Apollo’s breathing softened into snores—something to mask an intruder’s steps—but she found herself dozing off all the same.

**Author's Note:**

> Part One: "Be Happy" by FRND  
> Part Two: "Eastern Standard Time" by Tall Heights  
> Part Three: "Never Grow Up" by Taylor Swift  
> Part Four: "This Is Home" by Cavetown


End file.
